In the last post, I wrote about the physical benefits of being barefoot.
By leaving your shoes at home from time- to- time and walking barefoot, you wake up the “lost” muscles of your feet, improve your blood circulation and make sure your balance and coordination stay awesome, as you are getting older.
But it may surprise you that being barefoot can also be good for your physiological and even mental health. Being in contact with earth, in other words, earthing or grounding, may sound like something uber esoteric that you may think of as a waste of time, but give it a try – it really makes a difference.
Just last night my husband and I went out for a little walk to a park close to our house. It was so nice and warm outside – just perfect conditions to take off the shoes and do a little grounding. We also practiced some handstands.
It was really fun and energizing – if we hadn't gone out, we probably would have crashed on couch.
Barefoot Crisis Therapy
The other day, a client of mine told me something really interesting. In the past, she used to work at a bank where a robbery attempt happened. Nobody was hurt, but this terrible experience left people confused, shocked and frightened.
Robberies happen in movies, right? Unfortunately not.
Recovering from something like this may take a long time. Employees of the bank were offered a crisis therapy to make getting over the terrible experience easier. One part of the therapy was barefoot grounding: People were instructed to take off shoes and socks and put their bare feet on the ground.
Because the therapy took place indoors, they didn't have the chance to touch the real ground in real nature, but they imitated the same thing indoors. They planted their feet strongly into the carpet to feel and sense the warmth of it.
Feeling the strong surface under their bare feet let them to reconnect with the ground, which helped to earth the stress that they had developed from this incidence, relieve mental pain and reclaim the feeling of support and safety.
What is Earthing About?
Earthing is putting your skin into contact with the ground, whether it's grass, sand, concrete or dirt, with the goal of healing the body – physically, physiologically and mentally.
That's almost exactly what the bank employees did, with the exception of not being in touch with Earth, but with the floor.
By connecting our bodies with Earth's surface electrons, we transfer the positive energy from the ground to our bodies.
[tweet_box design=”box_04″]Grounding is one of the easiest, simplest and totally cost-free way to keep yourself healthy.[/tweet_box]
It really works. When I take my shoes off and walk on the grass, I feel the calming, yet refreshing effect immediately.
There is something about it. Call it placebo if you want – I'll take it, as long as it makes me feel better!
Our Lost Connection to Earth
In the past, people used to spend a lot of time in contact with the ground.
They walked barefoot, sat on the ground and even slept on the ground. There are places in the world where people still do those things. Of course, because of the circumstances, not because of the health benefits that they are probably not even aware of.
Us Western people have our shoes on all day long, we sit on chairs and sleep in our comfy beds. It's all comfortable, but at the same time, it has made us to lose connection to the Earth.
However, it would be naive to say that walking barefoot and sleeping on a clay floor like people in very poor countries do is purely a good thing. For example, in Western African countries where beds and mattresses are a true luxury, it makes so much easier for bugs and dangerous parasites to spread various diseases, and people catch some really dangerous illnesses.
Western people are facing the opposite threat: We are about to lose the connection to Earth altogether.
In addition to shoes, buildings and soft beds that are isolating us from Earth, we also live the era of electropollution – the pollution created by biologically toxic electrical frequencies, like WiFi waves and cell phone fields, that negatively affect our bodies.
Earthing on a regular basis can help to reduce the negative effect of this pollution.
The Many Benefits of Earthing
Physical connection to the ground creates some important changes in the human body.
So many of us suffer from stress and anxiety. Life is extremely busy at home and at work, and there's never enough time to do all we need. We may lose our sleep, get depressed and burn out. We develop weird pains and aches and get sick more easily.
Earthing, making a direct connection with electron-enriched earth, may help to alleviate those symptoms.
Here's how earthing makes you feel better:
- Helps you sleep better
- Reduces anxiety and depression
- Reduces nervousness
- Energizes you
- Increases your metabolism and absorption of nutrients
- Boosts immune system
- Reduces pain
- Detoxifies body
- Thinners your blood (as a cardiologist Stephen Sinatra says, you want to change it “from red ketchup to red wine” – which one do you want to have running in your veins? Wine for me, please!)?
How To Do It
Going barefoot is an awesome way of getting into contact with ground. However, throwing off your shoes is not the only thing you can do to reclaim your physical, physiological and mental power and strength from the ground – you can be in contact with your other body parts as well. By the way, being in water counts as grounding too.
Here are some tips on how to connect with the ground more often:
- Walk barefoot time to time.
- Do gardening and get your hands dirty.
- Go out for a picnic. Instead of sitting on the chair, bring a blanket to sit on.
- On a nice day, bring a book to read and go lay down outside on the ground.
- You can also work on your computer outdoors.
- Walk at the beach, jump, run and do push ups in the sand, swim and play water sports.
- Practice handstands!
- Get creative with your workouts.
- Do yoga outside.
What Is the Right Dose of Earthing to Feel the Health Benefits?
There is no one right answer to this question.
It depends on the goal and varies from individual to individual. For example, headaches have shown to ease after about 30 minutes of being in contact with the ground.
Chronic conditions probably require longer time.
However, think about earthing like you think about meditation: If you don't have 30 minutes, 10 is good too. If you have 40 instead of 30, that's even better.
Conclusion
Grounding is a great way to alleviate pains and aches, but also reclaim your mental state if you feel stressed, tired or anxious.
Being barefoot is only one way to do it, but you can be in contact with the ground with other body parts as well. Try sitting or lying on the ground. If you can't go out, you can imitate the same thing inside. It's not as powerful, but it helps.
It's free and it's fun, so there really are no excuses for not trying it if you haven't done it yet!
Have you tried earthing?
How does it make you feel?
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